Like many good ideas, community food planning seems obvious in retrospect. Each new subdivision raises a host of concerns as it goes through the approval process - but how well its surroundings can feed future homeowners has seldom been one of them.

However, the notion that a community must give some thought to how to feed its members seems to be taking root.

The nonprofit American Planning Association adopted a policy in May that encourages its members, 65 percent of whom work for state and local government agencies, to help build "stronger, sustainable and more self-reliant" local food systems.

Until recently, most planners were only peripherally concerned with food systems. Their involvement in conserving agricultural land stemmed more from a desire to protect open space than from an interest in preserving local food production.

"Yet, among the basic necessities of life - air, food, shelter and water - only food has been given short shrift by the planning community," write the authors of Policy Guide on Community and Regional Food Planning. That has now changed, though it's important to note that these are guidelines rather than enforceable rules.

"Local food planning is a very popular topic that has a surge behind it," said Amit Ghosh, chief planner at the San Francisco Planning Department. "It has a lot of currency here in the city. And it is not something that is just a fad. It's the basis of all sustainable policy that you may have. After all, food is one of those basic human needs."

A food system encompasses the production, processing, distribution and consumption of food and the management of waste. In justifying its new policy, the planning association said a city that can supply and control its food needs will have more say in what it eats, an opportunity to eat fresher foods and insulation from disruptions in national food distribution.

All that, plus the fact that dollars spent on locally produced food have a greater chance of cycling back through the community, and that food grown nearby bears a lesser liability for greenhouse gases released in transport.

Here are a few actions already taken by cities:

-- A crosstown bus line in Hartford, Conn., that links low-income neighborhoods to grocery stores.

-- A policy in Woodbury County, Iowa, mandating that county agencies buy locally produced foods for business events.

-- A goal in Madison, Wis., to establish a garden site for every 2,000 households.

-- The planned community of Prairie Crossing in Illinois that leases 40 of its 677 acres to a community-supported agriculture farm.

San Francisco has yet to address community food planning comprehensively, but the city is involved in a variety of initiatives aimed at tightening the connection between food producers and consumers. The San Francisco Department of Public Health, for example, adopted a policy in 2006 that promotes the inclusion of locally produced, healthy food at its events. The policy also requires that San Francisco General Hospital and Laguna Honda Hospital develop plans to begin purchasing food grown locally and sustainably.

"Local food goes along with the city's long-held public policy that urban centers are supposed to be designed in such a way that they are self-sustaining," said San Francisco planner Ghosh. He expects that these goals will become part of San Francisco's general plan once the city formalizes its approach to carbon neutrality.

Grassroots efforts within regional foods systems have emerged across the country as consumers discover the appeal of eating locally. But with few exceptions, these programs have occurred despite, rather than because of, county and municipal general plans.

State and federal food-planning guidelines are scant.

"It's still at the informal policy level," said Carol Whiteside, president of the Great Valley Center, a nonprofit organization that supports activities and organizations benefiting the Central Valley. "I would say that food security has not yet entered formal policy discussion. The cynics' comment that I've heard more than once is: 'If we think it's tough to deal with China on import policy or oil or whatever it happens to be, wait until it controls our food supply.'

"People are asking: In a world where trade is hugely important but where trade embargoes become a weapon of defense, do we want to be dependent upon imported food? And what would it mean for this country to make a policy to be food independent? This is an issue that's bubbling, but my sense is that consumers are ahead of the government on it."

That said, Whiteside does believe that governments are paying attention to other issues that help to bring food systems into the discussion.

"By talking about obesity and disease and health, the government is creating an environment in which the ability to eat locally becomes an attractive alternative," she said.

"All the individual efforts are super important, but we need policymakers and business at the table, too," said Paula Jones, director of San Francisco Food Systems, a private-public partnership addressing food in San Francisco. "Government can bring in not only the policy but also the funding and technical expertise that it takes to drive large-scale, systemic changes."

Plan ahead

The American Planning Association consists of 43,000 planners, officials and citizens involved with urban and rural planning issues. Its members serve in a range of roles including as city and county planners, planning consultants and planning commissioners. There are 47 regional chapters and 19 divisions devoted to specialized planning interests.